Judge tells Shkreli to shut it after secret tweets and trash talk to reporters

Enlarge / Martin Shkreli arrives at federal court with his attorney Benjamin Brafman, right, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Wednesday, July 5, 2017. (credit: Getty | Bloomberg)

A frustrated US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto on Wednesday scolded Martin Shkreli for indiscreetly commenting on his ongoing securities and wire fraud trial and potentially jeopardizing the trial-which is just in its second week and already a media spectacle. Matsumoto told the defendant to keep quiet about the trial while he is in or around public areas of the courthouse, despite Shkreli's lawyer's appeal that his client is simply stressed and emotional.

Matsumoto's move comes after the prosecution complained in court filings (PDF) and in verbal arguments this week that Shkreli was secretly tweeting about the trial and making inappropriate comments. Although Shkreli was banned from Twitter earlier this year after harassing a journalist, the prosecution notes that he appeared to be tweeting using the account @BLMBro. In a June YouTube video, Shkreli clearly says that the handle belongs to him (video here, 6:13-6:16). And using that handle, Shkreli questioned the credibility of witnesses and evidence. He also claimed that media reports about the trial were untrue. The @BLMBro account has since been suspended.

The prosecution also pointed to a trial lunch break last week, during which Shkreli strolled into a courthouse viewing room that was packed with reporters. There, he loudly criticized evidence and witnesses and called the prosecution "junior varsity." Shkreli only left the room after his lawyer came to retrieve him.

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